Nick Cave

Soundsuit, 2006
Afghan, cotton, wire and wood
100"x30"x25"
Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Visual and performing artist, Nick Cave graduated from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and the Kansas City Art Institute. His soundsuits are part of an elaborate narrative that is often autobiographical. Cave’s mix of materials, textures, and textiles challenge our cultural perceptions and reveal complex political and aesthetic themes. Cave considers the works “collages” and combines found textiles with hand-stitching and intricate knits.

“My work functions as transformative agents in several ways. To begin with, I function as a recycler of material and cultural artifacts, in that I use a wide array of found and natural material, which I often alter in addition to combining them in unique ways. More importantly, my work functions as transformations of the spirits, much as garments do when used in ritual ceremonies, often to facilitate the embodiment of goals or natural forces. A parallel transformational function of high fashion is equally relevant, in which the wearer employs clothes to create a persona.”